* These notes are derived and
adapted from the guidebook for visitors at the OMEICH centre San Cristobal,
Chiapas.

The Church in Mayan
medicine constitutes a sacred, therapeutic
spot on which the indigenous healer,
by means of prayers, candles, burning and copal offerings, cures the sick. The
saints and altars relate to the places
where OMEICH has its working agents.

" This person sits in front of rocks and
a pine tree. He is dressed in traditional clothing from Chenalho. A number of
sufferings are attributed to divine justice, caused by the transgressions of
social and moral rules of the community.

These illnesses are suffered only once
in a lifetime and appear in a cyclical manner. Among these are measles, chicken
pox, small pox and whooping cough. This type of suffering may be prevented by
having a healer pray for you three times a year in the church, in the hills or
at a spring. The healer also goes to pray in the hills where the spirits and
gods are.

Flocks of cattle, horses, pigs, chickens or turkeys may accompany him and he
asks the gods to tolerate what these animals do. The prayer healer asks that the
animals be liberated from evil and illness. In June, when the corn begins to
grow, the healer goes to the cornfield offering candles, music, and fireworks to
the spirits of the earth. "

There is also a mural depicting a
traditional scene:

"In front of the healer is a mural which
represents the village and Mother Earth. In the middle of the lake there is a
fetus, representing the birth that comes from Mother Earth. For the indigenous,
the earth is highest deity, seen as the supreme fountain, life and death. She is
the goddess of the harvest. Good or bad happen according to her will. The earth
is where our bodies return where we die, where we become equal with all that
exists. For the indigenous people of this area, all things in existence have
souls. Mother earth gives us food such as plants, water, and air. At the end of
our lives we return to her, to return the favor of feeding us."

Therapeutic Resources used by Indigenous Healers

Candles

Candles help to reverse
or stop soul damage, and aid in liberating the patient’s spirit. The number,
size and colour of the candles used may vary according to the illness being
treated. The candles, which are used in almost every healing ritual, have to
burn out completely because they are what God and the saints live on.

The Cross

The cross is the
representation of God on earth. It is a covenant between God and the people. It
is made of pine and may be of any size or colour.

Prayers

Prayers may be said in
any place where the patient lost his or her soul, or the illness was acquired:
by the river, on top of a mountain, at a crossroad, inside a cave or a church or
in the middle of a cornfield.

Incense

Incense, called “incencio”
or “copal”, is burned in a Yabj ak’ad (incense burner). The smoke
is God’s food, as corn is ours.

Flowers

The tips of tender Pinns Toocote branches are used in
altars. Each branch represents the person or persons for whom the prayers are
being said. Flowers are also the food of God. Any kind of flower may be offered.

Posh

Posh
(sugar-cane liquor) is blown over the patients to make them happy. This
strengthens people and liberates their souls from evil spirits which damage them
and make them suffer. Hence, posh is blown over those who are very ill.

Soft Drinks

A patient may be
cleansed with soft drink (as with posh) and it may also be offered to the
God by sprinkling a little between the candles. This draws out and seals the
evil which is in the patient. Previously, when a traditional healer did not want
to use posh, he used sugar-cane juice instead. These days it is easier to
obtain soft drinks.

Prayer against fright

Lord God

Father Saint Manuel

Lord Jesus Christ

I ask for your
favor,

I ask clemency,

That you raise
up

And you call to
your child

Your descendant

Who is entombed
in your flourishing face

Who is concealed
in your blessed face

Why does your
child,

Your descendant

Suffer in body

And in soul?

Your child
suffers

From vomiting
and diarrhea

But . . . Why
did he fall?

Why has he
collapsed?

Why has he
become frightened?

In your blessed
face, Lord?

But . . . you
will liberate him

You will untie
him

And return to
him his soul

That he won't be
your servant

Master of the
blessed Earth, Lord.

Candle
Production

OMEICH
report that Candles play an important role in the curing ceremonies of
indigenous healers. Different candle sizes and colours are used to heal a
variety of diseases.

"In the early days. candles
were made of beeswax, but now it is much easier to buy paraffin, The paraffin is
melted in a tub. You can see a ring hanging
from the ceiling on which the cotton strings are placed. After the paraffin has
liquefied, the candle maker takes some of it in a gourd and pours it over the
strings until the candles are the desired size. At the end of the process,
colors can be added.

Today only a few people produce
their own candles. most buy them in stores or in the market."

Significance of the Candles (Healing)

White - for mother earth, god & purity

Pink or Blue - to cure
illness, for one's partner, or so that business goes well

Yellow/Orange - to get
rid of bad energy, negativity, or envy

Green - to get rid of illness

Purple - to accompany other candles

Red - to return the energy of others who have
bothered you

Gold/Rainbow
- happiness, to accompany white candles

Beef tallow - to get rid of and dominate over any
evil

Candles
are used to:

Treat different illnesses, e.g., El Mucta
chulelal (Strong or debhillitating illness of the soul)
1 White
candle for God who is in the sky
2 Gold
candles for illness caused by another person's envy or bad spell
2 Yellow
candles for illness caused by another person's envy or bad spell
2 Red candles
for illness caused by another person's envy or bad spell
This illness
requires many candles of larger sizes, as it is very strong

ask for a longer and better life
To ask that
you do not become ill and that you are content
with your
family and with everyone in your community.
13 white
candles to ask these things of God, Mother Earth and all of the saints and
angels

For the
cornfield
Say two
prayers. The first is said when you begin to work in the cornfield, as that
you are not hurt while working or cut by a machete due to the envy of
another person. The other prayer is said when the corn is ready to sprout in
order to prevent wind, hail, or worms from ruining the crop. Pray in the
middle of the cornfield to the Saint Earth, and there we will eat. 13 Gold
candles.

In the hills and
caves
Pray to
receive abundant corn, beans, squash, etc. and also that the in habitants of
the community don't become sick. These prayers are said in the neighborhoods
in the hills, which are important because they are located at the four
cardinal points. 13 White candles.

Animals
in Medicinal Use

Hummingbird
- flesh is used for rheumatism

Bee -
stinger used for body cramps

Squirrel
- whole body used for fright

Snake -
fat is used for rheumatism

Black Chicken
- whole animal used for evil eye or spells

Armadillo
- snout is used for

Skunk -
urine is used for rheumatism

Black Spider
- fang is used for inflamation of the testicles

Oppossum
-tail is used to speed up childbirth

Black Vulture
- bones are used for rheumatism

Minerals in Medicinal Use

Limestone – fallen womb

Soot - rheumatism

Obsidian - Asthma

Black Mud – intestinal
inflamation

Medicinal Plants

Outside
of the Museo de medicine de Maya is a demonstration herb garden

these are
some of the plants growing there along with a description of their names and
medicinal uses:

Pilico

"Pilico
is a compound of wild tobacco and limestone. Wild tobacco is a sacred plant for
the indigenous. Pilico is used to protect people against envy or bad winds and
in order to protect them so that nothing will happen to them when they go out at
night or walk long distances. It also helps when one is suffering from stomach
aches and nausea.

It is
prepared by mashing a handful of wild tobacco with a little bit of limestone and
garlic. When it is well mashed, the power is filled into a little pumpkin
container to be kept with the person; either in his/her bag or with a string
around his/her neck at all times.

Pilico is
used the following way: Take a pinch of it with three of your fingers and put it
inside your mouth or in between your teeth. Move it back and forth in your
mouth, then swallow it slowly. Its flavor is spicy. "

The Mayan Temascal
Steam Bath

The use of
a temascal steam bath is recognized as a "resource, a hydrotherapeutic
procedure, methods or technique" long prior to the arrival of the Spanish in
Mexico. The Mayans typically used it for "curing bad temperament" that
accompanies the "entry of cold" into the organism.

"For the
Mayan culture temascal is like the maternal womb; those who bathe in it
experience the ritual of rebirth and purification. It is an intimate experience
that has the effect of 'cleansing the body and the soul.' It pacifies and
revitalizes the air that represents the fragile human soul.

The
temascal is constructed to represent the world or earth. When you enter the
Temascal, you enter the breast of Mother Earth. You then leave healthy and
purified, like a newborn child due to the conjunction of fire and water. The
union of fire and water create a purifying vapor."

Birth

"The roof of the birthing room
is made of palm and bamboo, the walls of adobe, and the floor is dirt. There are
observable cooking utensils, farm tools, and aspects of life in the community,
although much is changing. Pots, jugs, spoons, axes, machetes, tables, chair,
and the fire all have their place and significance in the home of a pregnant
woman.

Birth takes place in the
pregnant woman's house, with her husband and the midwife present. IF the father
can not be present, another trusted family member or other individual might take
his place to assist the birth. During labor, the woman kneels down in front of
her husband who, sitting in the chair, support her on her arms and thorax. [Also
present] the midwife, behind the mother, gently presses her belly downwards and
gets prepared to receive the child. The woman may also hang from the midwife's
arms during the process.

In the case of prolonged labor,
medicinal plants are used to speed it up; midwives also use external maneuvers,
either with the midwife's hands or the husband's knees. The midwife might also
use the grinding stone passing it three times from the woman's head down to her
hips. The woman's loose hair is a trick to help speed up the birth, it signifies
that the woman is free to expel the baby. The midwife uses different objects in
order to speed up the birth., such as the machete or axe, passing them three
times over the stomach of the mother as a symbolic cesarean.

The midwifes do not offer their
services, instead when women know that they are pregnant, they go to the midwife
and ask for her support. From this moment on, the midwife will come to the
woman's house when needed, no matter what time of what kind of weather.

When the child is older, he or
she is given a piece of amber in the form of a doll or necklace. This is to
protect them from the evil eye. Each child has a nagual, or protector,
which accompanies them throughout their life. This may be an animal or other
natural element. In order to live every person needs the energy given by his or
her nagual. An average person may have three naguales during their
lifetime, one is generally an animal, but for people of high supernatural status
it may be a natural phenomenon such as lightning, a meteor or whirlwind."